Tantalize
by WJEvans
Summary: After HBP, Ginny starts her 6th year having no idea what to expect. The world is a changed place and Ginny is tired of being treated like a little girl. Her life takes a sharp turn as a boy with captivating gray eyes finds her in the Leaky Cauldron. GD
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing- wow, that's a depressing thought.

Thanks to my AMAZING beta james-fanatic!!!!!!

My gripe is not with lovers of the truth but with the truth herself. What succor, what consolation is there in truth, compared to a story? What good is truth, at midnight, in the dark, when the wind is roaring like a bear in the chimney? What you need are the plump comforts of a story. The soothing, rocking safety of a lie.

- Vida Winter.

Tantalize

**Chapter One**

It was the end of August, just a few days before school started. My family, along with Harry and Hermione, were staying at the Leaky Cauldron. I had snuck out of the room I shared with Hermione, and was currently sitting in one of the bay windows of the pub that faced the street. Diagon Alley was completely deserted and I found the setting perfect to write in my journal.

I had been sneaking out every night since we got here. The window was the only place where I got the peace and quiet I needed to write. I cannot even imagine the amount of trouble I would get in if mum or dad found out where I spent my nights.

The world was a changed place, as they so often reminded me. Its not like I didn't understand that, its just… if our time here is numbered, then we shouldn't spend it in hiding. We should enjoy what little time we have left. I know safety is important, I'm not stupid, but I believe that there is a point when you have done all you can do to ensure your safety, and my parents were way past that.

I would rather not think about everything that's changed. I still couldn't believe that we are going back to school without Dumbledore. It's going to be completely different. Everything is changing at such a fast rate, I can hardly keep up. And under no circumstances will I tolerate being left behind.

The moon shone resembling a diamond embedded in the starless sky. It was well past midnight and the darkness was so thick, I could barely make out the deserted store windows across the street. A large cloud moved aimlessly across the sky, obscuring the moon which was the only source of light I was using to write with, apart from the few candles that were littered around the pub.

Even in the late hour, there were still wanderers here, crowed in the corners speaking in nothing more than hushed whispers. A dense fog was slithering its way across the cobblestone. Which gave the street a sepulchral air, causing me to draw my feet up from the floor.

The shrill sound of an owl cut through the silence and I was met with a draft of icy air from the opening door. I hadn't seen anyone walk up to the door let alone on the street.

As the two cloaked figures made their way across the pub, I immediately regretted my idea of coming down here. Really, what on earth had I been thinking?

Drawing my cloak close and making sure my fiery red hair was concealed, I quickly made my way across the pub to the stairs, trying desperately not to attract attention. When I was a few feet away, relief flooding through my body, the clouds decided to move causing the pub to be filled with a few beams of moonlight. The strongest leading toward the table where the cloaked figures sat. For reasons unknown to me, my eyes decided to follow the beam of light to the table where I was captivated by the sight of a pale hand. My eyes moved up the body till they rested on the face, which was now partly visible. I realized the face belonged to a boy around the same age as my brother.

By this point I had completely stopped walking and was currently staring at the white blond hair that reached passed his eyebrows. As if he felt my gaze, his head jerked in my direction causing our eyes to meet. All of the air seemed to leave my body and my journal fell from my grasp. I was unable to move as his gray eyes held mine. Time seemed to freeze as my mind slowly put the pieces together. I recognized the face that how I ever forgot it is a complete mystery to me.

I was staring into the slate gray eyes of Draco Malfoy.

All thoughts of being stealthy left my mind, I needed to run but my legs wouldn't move. Using all the willpower I possessed, I tore my eyes away from his and sprinted up the stairs. I could hear his footsteps behind me and knew it was no use; his legs were much longer than mine.

Just as morbid thoughts about death entered my mind, an ice-cold hand gripped my wrist and I was sharply pulled around. I don't know how long we stood there, our eyes level to each other, just listening to the fast paced beating of our hearts. His firm grip never left my wrist as I stood there wondering what he was waiting for.

As my thoughts once again began to drift, I felt an abrupt yank on my arm and I was forced to look him straight in the eye. However, I was not met with the cold stare I was accustomed to but pleading eyes.

"Don't tell anyone you saw me here" he pleaded in a soft voice.

That was one of the last things I was expecting to hear and all rational thought left my mind.

"I have to go," I said, trying to get my wrist out of his grasp.

"NO. Don't tell anyone we're here"

"OK, I won't. I just have to go". I replied, not understanding why I sounded out of breath. Maybe it was because I had never heard him speak like this; he didn't have the usual hint of malice in his voice.

He pulled me closer to him, to the point where our foreheads were almost touching. His breath causing shivers to run down my sides.

"No, promise me you wont say a word. Please, Ginny. Don't tell". I took a sharp intake of breath, never having heard him say my first name before.

"Yes". I said fiercely nodding my head, looking up at him with sincere eyes. "I promise I won't tell".

He nodded once and quickly dropped my wrist before fleeing down the stairs. I ran all the way back to my room, not stopping to breath until I was safely in my bed. As I lay there, a million thoughts passed through my mind. Why had I not done anything? I wasn't powerless, I had my wand in my cloak and of course I could have screamed. I had one of the people responsible for Dumbledore's death completely at my mercy, and had promised him that I would not tell a soul that he was here. What the bloody hell is wrong with me? He had caused so much suffering and yet, I let him get away.

Similar thoughts played in constant loops in my mind until sleep finally invaded my conscience. However, the last thought in my head before drifting off to another restless sleep was not of my stupidity but of the tingling sensation I had felt trailing up my arm. Starting at my wrist.

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**Waverly**

I can tell from where you're standing

the night's about to get a whole lot sweeter


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I sadly own nothing.

Thanks to my AMAZING beta james-fanatic!!!!!!

Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions.

**David Borenstein**

Chapter 2

Everyday after I saw him, I made sure I was in bed promptly at nine and slept with my wand under my pillow. I was disgusted at myself for letting him get away, and even more disgusted at the fact that my eyes were always scanning the crowd for a familiar blond.

"Ginny! Ginny, wake up, your mum's throwing a fit. You should have been ready thirty minutes ago" Hermione told me as she tried to shake me awake.

"I'm up, I'm up" I grumbled, flipping over to lie on my back.

" You can quit shaking me now" I rudely snapped at her.

Hermione was used to morning behavior and did nothing but hand me a mug of coffee.

" I will be back in five minutes, just to make sure you don't fall back to sleep" She informed me as she walked out the door. "Oh, wear a sweater. The weather is absolutely horrid!"

"Well, this is our last day here, I'll be waking up in my dorm tomorrow" I muttered to myself as I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, stretching my arms over my head.

I quickly put on a pair of jeans, a white fitted t-shirt and a black zip up hoodie. My family was going out to finish our last bit of shopping. Mum had promised we could shop by ourselves, as long as we stayed together.

By the time Harry, Ron, Hermione and I finished shopping; the sun was just starting to set, probably giving us another hour of light. We decided to quickly check into Quality Quidditch Supplies and Flourish & Blotts before heading back to the Leaky Cauldron to meet mum and dad for dinner.

"Ginny, what do you think" Harry asked. I really had no idea what he was talking about; I hadn't been listening at all. So, I just nodded my head and replied, "Yeah, sure".

"You unquestionably have no idea what I was talking about, do you" he said playfully.

"Not in the slightest. Sorry, just lost in my own thoughts"

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"No, don't worry about it. I was just trying to remember if I repacked my charms book, I was reading it last night." I easily lied.

"Ah, pulling a Hermione, reading a school book during your free time. She's really rubbing off on you, huh".

"Hey! It happens to be a very interesting book!"

"Of course it is" he joked. "Anyway, I was asking if you wanted to share a compartment with us back to school or..."

"Yeah, that would be great! You don't mind if I bring Luna, right? I promised her we were going to sit togeath-" I never got to finish my sentence, all the words seemed to stick in my throat.

A few feet ahead of us, a tuft of blond hair was sticking out the hood of a cloak. Only one person had hair that incredibly pale and this time, I wouldn't let him get away.

I detangled my hand from Harry's, not remembering how it got there, and started to walk in Malfoy's direction. When Harry turned around about to ask me what was going on, I was already a few feet away from him.

"Ginny, where are you going?" he yelled

I inwardly cringed. Why did he have to be so loud?

Looking for the source of the call, Malfoy looked back and our eyes met. We both stood there for an immeasurable amount of time. But then, he wrenched his eyes away and looked over my shoulder. I am almost positive that I saw a look of panic cloud his features before he turned around and broke into a slow run.

"Don't worry Harry, I think I dropped something. I'll meet you at the Leaky Cauldron," I called back running to catch up with Malfoy.

I could barley keep my eyes on him as he darted through the crowd. "Damn it" I muttered under my breath, I wouldn't let him get away, I couldn't. I pushed my way through the crowd, trying to run a little faster.

My legs were slowly staring to ache; it felt like I had been running for miles. Malfoy abruptly made a sharp left turn into a dark alleyway that lead to the back end of Diagon Alley. I had to harshly yank my feet to the left or else I would have missed the small alley.

I was losing him, his longer legs making it impossible to catch up. However, to what I thought was my immense luck, his foot caught on an indent in the road. His running faltered as he tried to regain his balance.

At what seem to be lighting speed, I pushed him by the shoulder, slamming him into the side of the building. As I did this, I managed to get my wand in my other hand and roughly jammed it at the hollow base of this throat. We stood there for an eternity just trying to catch our breath.

I was absentmindedly zoning out, staring at a brick above his right shoulder, trying to ignore the sound of my heartbeat in my ears. I drew in a shaky breath as I tried to collect my thoughts and looked him straight in the eyes.

I was completely puzzled by his eyes. I expected a whirlwind of emotion; I expected his eyes to be filled with rage and malice or … anything. Anything other than the empty ones staring back at me, void of emotion, like he had been expecting this. After a while, I finally regained my composure and remembered why I was doing this.

"You!" I sneered, pushing my wand even harder his neck.

"You, evil, loathsome little git. I should be blasting you into a thousand tiny peaces. How dare you?! You have ruined everything and somehow you got me to let you go! And you got me to promise! To promise not to tell anyone I saw you! You are the reason He is dead and I let you go. I should kill you, I should make you suffer!" My breath caught in my throat. " I should" I began, unable to continue. " I should…" I was now gasping for air and had a small amount of salty tears escaping from my eyes.

I opened my mouth once more to try and speak however; I was cut off by a loud "Ginny!"

I instantly whipped my head around, that had been Harry's voice!

Malfoy made a slight move and I pushed him closer to the wall. "No you don't, I'm not going to let you leave again".

"Ginny!" Harry called again.

"Just a minute, I'll be right there," I hoarsely yelled back, my voice breaking in fear.

" I lowered…" I heard Malfoy choke out. I turned to look at him, bewilderment flashing in my eyes. " I lowered my wand, I didn't want to do it," he whispered. "I lowered my-"

"Ginny! Where are you?"

" I'm coming," I half-heartedly shouted. In my surprise of what Malfoy just said, I turned around to face the opening of the alley way as I replied, and unknowingly let go of Malfoy. What did he mean, he didn't want to do it. None of this made any sence.

Realizing that I was no longer hold him, I quickly turned only to find he was gone. I spun around aimlessly in a circle, my eyes searching everywhere but, he was nowhere in sight.

In exhaustion, I leaned against the side of the alleyway, resting my forehead on the cool brick. 'What the hell just happened' I thought.

"Ginny" Harry said, now only a few feet away. "What are you doing? You really scared me, leaving like that. What were you thinking?"

"Sorry, I just thought I saw an old friend of mine" I lied.

"You know better than that, wandering off like that on your own. Thank God you are ok. I don't know what I would do with myself if anything happened to you". He then took a deep breath. "Come on, I told Ron and Hermione we would meet them back at the Leaky Cauldron. Your mum wants to have one last meal as a family. Lets go, its getting dark."

I wordlessly followed him, keeping a tight grip on his arm as he led the way. 'One last meal as a family'. For some reason those words were stuck in my mind making me grip his arm even tighter.

If I had only known how true those words really were.

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Waverley ;)


	3. Chapter 3

I LOVE MY BETA! james-fanatic is AMAZING!

Enjoy!

Chapter 3

It was a nice dinner; the entire family was there. Even Tonks and Lupin showed up, though they were a few minutes late. We talked and joked around for hours, eating mountains of delicious food. It was almost enough to distract me from the day's events. However, fragments kept replaying in my head.

When mum finally told us to go to bed, I was exhausted. I mumbled my way through all of my goodnights and trudged my way up the stairs. I was ready for a good nights sleep. Merlin knows I needed it.

We arrived at Kings Cross station early the next morning. There were large amounts of people walking around, saying goodbye to loved ones and catching up with old friends. I was chatting about nothing in particular with Hermione when someone walked into me. The force of the impact caused me to stumble to the ground and have my tote bag slide off my arm.

"Hey! Watch it," I exclaimed', only to look up and see no one around.

"How rude! They didn't even apologize," Hermione said, helping me to my feet.

"Come on, let's say goodbye and help Harry and Ron with their trunks."

This was the part I was dreading. I knew Mum would start crying, which will cause me to cry, and she will most likely do something embarrassing.

Right now Mum was saying goodbye to Harry and Ron. She had them both in the tightest of hugs and was telling them to be careful. She already had lines of tears running down her cheeks and I could feel my own eyes start to water. I looked around the platform watching families say goodbye to one another. Everyone looked scared and were holding on to each other like it was the last time they would ever be together.

"My little girl," Mum murmured as she wrapped her arms around me.

I knew it should not bother me, I mean, she was my mum. But 'little girl'? Couldn't she call me anything else?

"Oh, now Mum. Come on. Don't cry. I'll be back at Christmas and I have already told you I'm going to write daily," I said soothingly.

"Just promise me you will keep safe. I know you've got a good head on your shoulders. Just please, don't do anything careless," she begged, sobbing.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid."

" I know, I know, just look after your self. Oh, look at the time. You'd better get on the train."

We all said one last round of goodbyes, promising to write and stay out of trouble. The whistle on the Hogwarts Express sounded and the students started to pile on. This was the first time I noticed that even though there were a lot of students, not many were returning this year.

We found a compartment near the back of the train and I left the trio to go find Luna.

After checking in a few compartments I found her, reading a Muggle magazine.

"Hullo Luna," I said walking over to the window. Rain clouds loomed overhead and the winds were lifting leaves into the air. Most of the families had left the station. There was only one person in my sight, dressed in a black hooded cape. The person was defiantly looking my direction. A sudden gust of wind caused the hood of the cloak to lift, allowing me to view a head of pale hair.

This time, when I realized who it was, I didn't feel my normal rush of anger.

Oh god, I've finally gone insane, I thought.

Malfoy raised his hand and pointed at my bag. I felt my eyebrows rise in confusion as I help up the bag. He merely nodded once, indication for me to open it, which I did.

On top was my journal.

It all made sense now, the person who had walked into me was Malfoy. He must have slipped it in my bag when I fell, I thought, smiling.

I walked to the window, quickly thinking of ways to thank Malfoy without attracting Luna's attention. However, when I finally thought of an idea, he was gone.

"How does he keep doing that?" I said

"Who's doing what?" asked Luna.

Oops, I thought, I hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"It's nothing. Let's go to Harry, Ron, and Hermione's compartment."

It started to pour around half way through the trip. Ron and Hermione were asleep, and Hermione's head was resting on Ron's shoulder. Even in his sleep, he had a smug look on his face.

The side of my face was pressed against the cool glass. I had been holding my journal in my lap for the past hour. I hadn't written anything in it yet or even opened it up. I looked over to see Luna still reading her 'Vogue' magazine. Harry had left to put on his robes.

We must be getting close to the school, I thought. I should go put on my robes.

When I got back, I could see the castle outside the window.

"Only a few more minutes until we are at Hogwarts," Hermione announced, pulling on her cloak.

"Yeah," I said, slightly nervous. I had been perfectly calm until I saw the castle in the distance. How different will it be? I questioned. I guess I will find out soon enough.

The train slowed to a stop, and we all piled out of our compartment. We all were able to fit into a carriage.

One down from us, I could see Blaise Zabini. He gave me a strange look as he entered his carriage.

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-WAVERLY


	4. Author's note

Dear People,

I am not going to update until the end of March. I'm so sorry for those who read my story but I am going on vacation.

Hoping I'll actually get a tan,

Waverly ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to my beta james-fanatic!!

Chapter 4

"Welcome. Welcome to another years at Hogwarts. I would like to thank you all for coming back this year. For those who do not know, I am your headmistress, Professor McGonagall, as well as your Transfiguration teacher."

I had stopped listening by now, and was now looking around, remembering all the familiar faces that had not returned. At least my two best friends had come back. Colin being one of them, and my other friend, Morgan Weary. She was a Gryffindor in my year.

We had become friends half way through last year; she had caused her hair to bleach when she was trying to do a drying charm. I had thought that it was absolutely hilarious and laughed for about five minutes before I decided to help her change her hair back to normal.

She was now sitting across the table from me, her eyelids drooping over her amber eyes.

We were both startled by the sound of clapping filling the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall had finished her speech and was now introducing a blonde woman with kind eyes who I had not noticed before now.

"I would also like to introduce Alexandra Mara Troyan. She will be taking over as Head of Gryffindor and Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

Professor Troyan was wearing the usual teacher robes and held herself with an old, forgotten elegance. She had short, rough golden brown hair and fair skin. Our new Head of House was slightly taller than McGonagall and smiled as she looked around the room.

I watched her as she looked around, and noticed that her eyes lingered on the Slytherin table. When she turned back to look at McGonagall, I noticed that she had a small tattoo below her right ear, though I could not make out what it was. When she turned again, Professor Troyan's eyes where not on the Gryffindor table, but specifically on me.

As she looked at me, it felt like she was looking into the depths of my soul, rediscovering all of my secrets I have tried so desperately to keep private. As I looked into her moss colored eyes, I re-lived all my worst nightmares, re-living a time where power had taken control and I didn't seem to mind.

I was back in the Chamber, standing a few feet away from him. He was walking slowing towards me. Power was radiating off of him, casting an orange glow around the two of us. I could feel it touching me, causing me to feel invincible. I missed this feeling, and by the look on his face I could tell he knew this. I could practically smell him as he leaned down, about to whisper in my ear.

"Ah, how I've missed you, my-"

"Ginny, you can eat now. McGonagall finished her speech," Morgan's voice seemed to pull me out of my trance. I blinked a few times, trying to refocus my vision.

"Yeah. Thanks, I completely spaced," I replied. I stole a glance at Professor Troyan and saw the she was completely occupied in a conversation with Professor Sprout.

Morgan searched my face, looking me up and down. I looked at her and blinked once, as if to nod. Morgan got the message straight away. This is one of the reasons I believe we are such good friends; we don't need to speak. As cliché as it sounds, we don't need words to understand each other.

As I blinked, she stood up from the table and announced she was not feeling well. Being the amazing friend that I am, I offered to walk her to the hospital wing. No one even looked up as we went to leave. Well, that's not exactly true. Harry gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, but his eyes remained on his food the entire time.

"Okay, Gin, spit it out. What happened? You are deathly pale," Morgan said flopping on her bed, pajamas in hand.

"I don't know, it's just... I don't know. When McGonagall was giving her speech, I was looking at Professor Troyan, and when she turned to look at me... something weird happened. I was back in The Chamber," I ended in a whisper.

"What to you mean, 'you were back in the chamber'? How is that possible?"

Morgan and I knew everything about each other. She was the only girl out of my roommates who didn't freak out knowing about my first year. My other friends had already told me that they didn't care, that they knew I wasn't in control and it wasn't my fault. But I still saw the looks they gave each other behind my back. I noticed that they were more guarded around me.

"I have no idea, but the creepiest thing, the thing that is chilling me to my bones, is that I don't think it was a memory."

"To repeat my self once again, what do you mean?"

"I think Tom was there in my head. He told me he missed me. Oh god, he told me he missed me," I sobbed. Even now, I could still feel his breath on my neck.

"Oh Gin, don't worry about it. It couldn't have been real, right?" Morgan asked, looking slightly hopeful.

"I don't know. He looked and sounded exactly the same, but was saying something completely new."

"I think we should tell your brother," Morgan said, getting up from the bed and walking to the door.

"NO!" I wailed, flinging myself across the bed to grab her arm. "You can't tell Ron, because of course he will tell Hermione and Harry. Yeah, that's exactly what I need. To be known again as the girl who was possessed my evil diary, opened the Chamber of Secrets, and sent a monster out to kill Mudbloods." I clapped my hand over my mouth as soon as I realized what I had said.

"Did I just hear you say Mudblood?" Morgan asked, looking at me with wide eyes.

I collapsed backwards onto the bed, rubbing my eyes. Morgan sat down beside me, reached into her bag and producing two handfuls of chocolate frogs.

"What's happing to me?" I whispered as I bit off the head of a chocolate frog.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell Ron, or even Harry? I'm sure he would understand."

"No, I don't think I could bear to look at them if I told them. You have to promise me you won't say a word."

"Don't worry about it. My lips are sealed. Now come on, you really look like you need some sleep," Morgan said as she walked over to the bathroom.

"I do. Really, wait to you see yourself," I replied, following her.

I was running. Running faster than I thought possible. I could see him in the distance now; I was dodging falling bodies, not noticing whether they were friend or foe. The only thing I cared about now was making it to him in time.

I was closer now, barley ten feet away. I could make out the thin line of blood dribbling down from under his eye; I could see his chest heaving up and down. I was going to make it; there were only a few more feet between us.

But then, my foot caught on what I can only assume was a fallen body and I tripped, my arm shooting out in front of me, trying to break my fall. This motion attracted his attention and he turned to look in my direction.

"Ginny! Run!" he said taking a step towards me.

"Behind you!" I yelled, feebly lifting up my arm to point behind him. Even as he turned, I knew it was too late. Tom uttered the words that stick in your mind like a vile taste in your mouth.

The curse hit him square in the chest, and he was knocked off his feet. He landed right next to me, his wide unblinking eyes inches from my own. I could feel the bile rising in my throat, tears burning my eyes.

I felt someone pulling me up by the shoulders, detaching my hand from his slowly paling one. I was too numb to even notice what was happening until I felt his freezing breath on my neck, too numb to notice something was wrong.

"Ah, so wrong and yet so right. I told you I missed you. You really should have believed me. You know I don't lie. You knew I would never share you, and yet you had to get him involved. Pity, he needn't have died," Tom said, kicking his cold body.

"You will be mine, and no one will stand in my way," Tom whispered menacingly, kissing the hollow space behind my ear. He roughly grabbed my shoulders and turned me to look him in his eyes.

"I will come for you, my Dark Queen. I once told you never to forget that. Pity you didn't remember".

So, what's everyone think????

Review and tell me!

Waverly ;)


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Yeah!! Here is the real chapter 6. Took me forever, SO sorry.

Thanks to my beta James-fanatic!!!!!!

Enjoy

Chapter 6

I like to think that if I had known the evils of the diary I wouldn't have opened it. But I could never be sure.

Tom taught me many things - good and dark alike. I learned many horrible curses and secrets; things so torturous that you couldn't even find them in the Restricted Section. He also trained me how to be persuasive. How to turn on the charm and make people do the things I wanted them to, all the while having them believe it was their idea in the first place.

I became a master of deception, a lover of things hidden in shadow. He showed me how to mask my emotions and manipulate the ones of others. Tom also introduced me to the seductive beauty of power and he told me I should let nothing keep me from obtaining it.

He got inside my body, my mind. And even in the short time he was there, he began to morph me into a version of himself.

After Harry destroyed the diary, everyone thought he had destroyed every fragment of Tom in me. How wrong they were. I connected with Tom more than anyone thought possible. More than I thought possible.

He stayed with me also, for a while at least. After some time, he slowly started to fade away, becoming nothing but a quiet, maddening whisper in the deepest corners of my mind.

That's why I was terrified about what had happened at dinner and in my dream. He was back, powerful as ever to me, and something about Professor Troyan caused it to be so.

I had poured my heart and soul into that god-forsaken book. I told him everything about me, all of my dreams, my insecurities, anything I could think of. I basically handed myself to him on a silver platter, I practically told him to have me, to use me in anyway he saw fit.

I really did believe he loved me. In some sick twisted way, I have no doubt that he did. Just in whatever way he did, it was not in the same way I loved him.

There's a part of me that loves him still, and I hate my self for it. I torture myself over it. It's not as if I could do anything to control it, or at least that's how I try to justify it. Love has always been man's true weakness and he used it against me.

Most say what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, but in my case, I believe it only postponed the inevitable.

I was filled with mixed emotions; my mind was in a constant state of turmoil. You see, if I ever saw a Boggart, it would be Tom. Most expected this. But what no one ever thought of, what never crossed their minds, was that if I was ever to stand in front of the Mirror of Erised, Tom would be standing there with me.

After I woke up, covered in sweat and still shaking, I knew I couldn't stay in my bed. Tom hadn't been in a dream of mine for over a year. And now, here he was, looking more dangerous and tantalizing than ever.

Which is why I'm here, tickling a pear in a painting.

I often come to the kitchens when I can't sleep. Dobby had always been more than happy to fetch me anything I wanted.

And right now, what I wanted was pudding. Sticky toffee pudding to be exact.

The painting heavily swung open and I cast one last look down the hall before disappearing into the newly exposed door. I was immediately greeting by the smells of the little creatures cooking breakfast and a happy cry of "Misses Ginny!"

"Hullo Dobby," I said, walking a few feet in. "How was your summer?"

"It was very good Miss Ginny. I knitted a few hats and socks. I could make you a pair if you wishes."

"That's so sweet of you Dobby, but Mum sent me here with plenty. But, if you don't mind, I would really like some sticky toffee pudding."

"Not at all, not at all. Just have a seat, Miss Ginny, and I'll go and get you some," he replied, hurrying off.

"Thanks a million, Dobby!" I called to his retreating form.

I felt a prickly sensation on the back of my neck and turned around to see none other than Blaise Zabini, causally leaning against the wall, his arms folded behind his head. Upon seeing me finally notice him, he walked over, stopping no more than an arm's length away.

"Why look, if it isn't the littlest blood traitor Weaslette, out of the den so late at night," he drawled, his tone carrying an air of amusement.

"What do you want Zabini?" I replied crossing my arms. I tried to keep a calm exterior, but this was proving more difficult than ever. If he told anyone he saw me here, Mum and Dad would surely get a letter. I didn't know if Mum would be more angry or saddened by this news. I had promised here I would follow the rules and keep out of trouble. I couldn't bear the thought of disappointing her, not with everything she had going on.

"I'd watch your tone Weaslette. I am a prefect, and you are out past curfew, in the kitchens no less. I should really dock some points," he said, smirking as he walked around me in a circle.

I opened my mouth to retaliate but he kept on talking.

"Unless..." he stopped, apparently thinking, tapping his index finger against his temple. "Unless, I happen to be dreaming at this very moment. Its possible I might say, "The Gryffindor princess out at night, breaking school rules." He stepped closer as his green eyes slid up and down my body. "And, on top of all of that, wearing something that does not leave much to the imagination." He took a deep breath and circled me once more. "So now then, since I must be dreaming, I am just going to continue on my rounds and in the morning, this will have turned out to be nothing more than a very pleasing dream."

I looked up meeting his eyes, trying my hardest to smile.

"Goodnight my precious Weaslette," he said, taking my hand and kissing it. "I do hope you visit my dreams again."

I looked up meeting his eyes, trying my hardest to smile.

"Goodnight my precious Weaslette" He said, taking my hand and kissing it. "I do hope you visit my dreams again."

"Miss Weasley, Dobby has brought you your pudding"

"Thanks Dobby" I said, taking the dessert from his hands and walking towards one of the tables by the fire place.

'_I think that was the frist time I've ever sproken to him' _I thought, taking a bite of the pudding. I looked down at what I was wearing and blushed, realizing he was right. I handnt bothered to cover myself up, not expecting to meet anyone down here. I was only waering a pair of Charlie's old sweat pants, sung low around my hips, and a slightly see-through white tank top.

"This is just brilliant" I muttered in a voice thick with scarcasim, finishing he last bits of toffee.

Yum, I really really want some sticky toffee pudding, it my favorite food!

So, what did you think???

REVIEW- it improves your karma

Waverly ;)


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